Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to award him a COVID-19 business grant. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has refused to award him a ‘Restart Grant’ for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. There is no evidence of fault by the Council in its handling of this matter. The Council has refused to award Mr X a grant because it has no record of any application from him and Mr X has been unable to provide anything to show, on balance, that he did submit an application. The Council has checked through details of complete and incomplete applications and undertaken enquiries with its provider and it cannot award Mr X a grant after the deadline on Mr X’s word alone.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman